i am calling the pedi on Monday, just an FYI before reading this post😂

My daughter is 2 years old and has been sort of behind in her speech. At her 2 year check up in May the doctor was concerned only because speech therapy in my state goes through the school district starting at age 3. She suggested calling if her speech hasn't improved in a few months. I haven't called yet because it has improved but she's still mostly babbling. She will repeat most easy words whereas she didn't 3 months ago. But she will only repeat. She won't say these words unless I ask her to. She's always been pretty healthy, she hasn't ever had an ear infection or a fever even. Once or twice she had a little cold... But I've been reading about fluid in the ears and I'm wondering if this is possible without having any of those things? She was bottle fed which I'm reading can cause fluid. She does do this thing where she covers her ears like something is too loud, we brought it up to the doc and she wasn't concerned. Anyone have any knowledge on this? I'm wondering if fluid might be the cause of this speech delay.

Fluid in the ears can be seen when the doctor checks her ears so if her ears have looked normal with various physicals I doubt that is what has happened.

My two year old also covers his ears and says "Ow" with loud or unpleasant sounds. If your daughter can also repeat what you have said that means that she can hear the words just fine, too. And since she has started to repeat your words in the last three months that seems to be a big improvement to me.

Thank you ... I wasn't sure if fluid could be seen with just the otoscope or if they needed a different tool for that. That eases my mind a little. The doc wanted a follow up call anyway whether her speech exploded or not. sometimes it can be frustrating to say something and have her completely ignore me. I'm guessing this is more of a 2 year old thing than a true problem

Early Intervention provides services including speech therapy to children ages birth to three in every state. No need to wait for her to turn three to get services through the school district. If your doctor won't refer you to EI, you can refer yourself. The evaluation is done at no cost to you. I am concerned that a child over two years old is babbling and repeating, but not saying her own original thoughts. To be honest, it doesn't sound like a typical two-year-old thing.

It's not that she wouldn't refer us to EI but once she is 3 it goes to whatever school district we are living in (we don't live in a great one) so she wants to get that started as soon as we can. That's why I don't want to wait much longer to call the doc

If you are concerned, I would definitely have her evaluated. As the other ladies have said, the doctors can see if there is fluid in the ears, but yes, fluid in the ears can most definitely affect speech in that it can cause the child to not hear properly. If the child can't hear properly, she/he can't learn to speak properly. That's the issue we had with my daughter. She started Special Ed Preschool at the age of 2 for that very reason. Again, though, the doctors should be able to tell if there is fluid in the ears to cause the problem. It can't hurt to have EI evaluate her. My daughter did that with both of her kids when she was concerned about their speech.

Yes, but you don't have to wait for her to turn 3. EI will get her started now, and they will conduct a transition to services through the school district when she ages out of EI. Getting it started now is getting the wheels in motion much sooner than waiting. EI services are usually conducted either in your home or in the child's daycare - whatever is her "natural environment."

We see slp/OT (speech language pathology/occupational therapy) and my dd is only 9.5m (we see them for oral-motor and feeding development). Before we moved out of state we were also set up with EI services which are free and they come to your home (or you can go to them if it's easier). We did the evaluation through the health dept not the school district. You don't need your dr to get the evaluation...just contact your local health dept and they should be able to direct you .

Your dd may just need more time OR she may need a little boost...EI offers that and it has been worth it for us. Keep us posted !